6. The Social Approach

About this Lecture

Lecture

In this lecture, we discuss the importance of considering social factors as a cause of depression, focusing in particular on: (i) a sociological study of depression by Brown et al. (1977) which investigated the social causes of depression and anxiety in two groups of women and showed how these varied across different communities; (ii) four social factors which are commonly associated with depression being debt, disease, divorce and deprivation; (iii) the suggestion that an effective approach to depression does not limit itself to one particular model but takes account of a combination of biological, psychological and social factors.

Course

In this course, Professor Linda Gask (University of Manchester) explores the topic of depression. In the first lecture, we think about what depression is and how it can be diagnosed. In the second lecture, we think about different biological explanations for depression and consider available drug treatments. In the third lecture, we think about Freud’s psychodynamic model of depression. Next, we think about two cognitive models and their corresponding treatments: Ellis’s ABC Model and Rational Emotive Therapy and Beck’s Cognitive Triad and Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. In the fifth lecture, we introduce Seligman’s Learned Helplessness theory as a further psychological explanation for depression. In the sixth and final lecture, we conclude the course with a discussion of the social factors that may play a role in depression and underlines the importance of considering biological, psychological and social factors in conjunction.

Lecturer

Professor Linda Gask trained in medicine at the University of Edinburgh and in psychiatry in the North West of England. She was a 2000-2001 Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy based at the Center for Health Studies in Seattle. She has also worked as a consultant for the World Health Organisation and has been a zonal representative for the World Psychiatric Association.